The metrics of the highest ranking American legislator's savvy investing:
Minimum number of days between putting this stock in a blind trust (implicitly acknowledging the conflict of interest of controlling this stock) and "'ma[king] a conscious decision to divest himself of all HCA assets' so he could pursue an ambitious agenda of health care legislation free of any appearance of self-interest.": 3467
Number of days before the stock fell that he instructed his trustee to sell: 25
Number of days after all the stock was sold that the "unexpected" news of HCA's poor earnings was announced: 5
Amount stock went down (as a percentage): 9
Amount it's gone down since then (as a percentage, as of this writing): 8
Reasons for suddenly intervening: 0
Number of board members who are Bill Frist's brother: 1
Number who are Glenda Hatchett of TV's Judge Hatchett: 1
Number of senior executives who sold significant holdings in a 3-week period just prior to the dip: 7
Amount they unloaded (in shares): 574,882(in dollars): 19,942,610
Best quote (from Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21):
"The notion that you have a blind trust but you can tell your trustee when to sell stock in it just doesn't make any sense. It means you have a seeing eye trust and not a blind trust. It's ridiculous."My investing tip: Watch the senator and do as he does. This guy's HOTT!! (Peek)
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